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McAllister slated for Tuesday start in Seattle

McAllister slated for Tuesday start in Seattle

5/23/13: Zach McAllister collects five strikeouts and scatters five hits over five strong frames of three-run ball to earn his fourth win

By Jordan Bastian
/
MLB.com |

MINNEAPOLIS -- Indians starter Zach McAllister has cleared the final hurdle in his comeback.

On Saturday, McAllister completed a bullpen session with no lingering issues from the sprained right middle finger that kept him on the disabled list for the past six weeks. Indians manager Terry Francona said McAllister is scheduled to be activated for a start on Tuesday in Seattle.

"He's all set," Francona said. "He's done a really good job with everything we've asked. He's good to go."

McAllister was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 8 due to the finger injury, which involved a sprained pulley. The right-hander experienced the most discomfort while throwing his curveball, and he did not use the pitch at all during his last start on June 2 against Tampa Bay.

Over the course of the past six weeks, McAllister advanced through a throwing program, but he held off on throwing the curve until the past couple of weeks. The starter tested out the pitch in six shutout innings for Triple-A Columbus in a rehab outing on Thursday and threw it again with no problems during Saturday's mound session.

"He's been great," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. "Obviously, that's one of the things that makes him a good pitcher, is his ability to realize where he's at and what he's got and what he's doing. He did a good job throughout the rehab process of not trying to push it too much and taking advice from the trainers. He did it the right way."

In 11 starts this season, McAllister has gone 4-5 with a 3.43 ERA across 65 2/3 innings, during which he compiled 45 strikeouts against 22 walks. The right-hander went 0-2 with a 6.52 ERA in his last two starts while dealing with the finger injury. In the previous nine turns, McAllister was 4-3 with a 2.89 ERA.

Entering Saturday, the Indians rotation had gone 12-12 with a 4.55 ERA while McAllister was on the disabled list. His replacements (Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer and Danny Salazar) went a combined 1-3 with a 7.96 ERA in 31 2/3 innings over that stretch.

"We forced him to be patient," Francona said of McAllister. "We tried to press upon him the fact that, if he did this right, it's something you can move on from and continue his progression, trying to see how good he can get, as opposed to fiddling around with this thing and having a problem.

"He did a really good job. He was really honest. He worked his [tail] off. It's kind of exciting that he's back, ready to go."